After seeing a phantom ship, the Blackwell kids run aground on a mysterious island with warring mermaids, zombie pirates, and a strange dolphin-boy named Finn.

Do you hear the distant drums? And what about that weird screaming ... Emma Blackwell used to love mermaids. Jonah Blackwell used to love pirates. And William Blackwell tried to be a good captain. Which he would be, if he could get his twin brother and sister to stop fighting long enough to sail their boat, the Peregrine, across the bay. But after the Blackwells see a phantom ship, barely survive a terrible storm, and then mysteriously wake up with seaweed in their mouths, everything changes. They're becalmed in fog. They run aground on a strange island. They hear distant drums, and their weird adventure begins! The Blackwells face zombie pirates, terrifying mermaids, and a shipwrecked group of cursed ship's figureheads, including a Roman gladiator and an English knight, all led by the strange dolphin-boy, Finn. It'll make a great sea yarn one day, if they can just survive it.

They’re troubling. They’re bizarre. And they JUST might be true. They’re Weird Stories Gone Wrong. Here are five spectacularly spooky books from acclaimed children’s author Philippa Dowding that will have you wondering about tall tales, giant flies, and mysterious monsters in the dark. Jake and the Giant Hand—Book #1 Jake doesn’t really believe a giant’s hand was found in a field near his grandfather’s farm, but when Jake begins noticing giant flies buzzing around and Grandpa says the basement is off-limits, he doesn’t know what to believe. Myles and the Monster Outside—Book #2 2016/2017 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award — Shortlisted A series of creepy events follow Myles and his family one rainy night as they move across the country. But the scariest thing has to be the misty, red-eyed figure that won’t leave them alone. Carter and the Curious Maze—Book #3 Carter discovers a creepy maze at the fair and travels farther and farther back in time. How will he ever get back to the present? Alex and The Other—Book #4 Alex is a lonely boy, not exactly bullied but not popular either. Then a girl — named Alex! — arrives who looks just like him. She is popular, and better than him at everything. Soon, she’s even better than he is at being him. Will Alex get his life back, or will his evil twin take over for good? Blackwells and the Briny Deep—Book #5 After seeing a phantom ship, the Blackwell kids run aground on a mysterious island with warring mermaids, zombie pirates, and a strange dolphin-boy named Finn.

Alex is a lonely boy, not exactly bullied but not popular either. Then a girl — named Alex! — arrives who looks just like him. She is popular, and better than him at everything. Soon, she’s even better than he is at being him. Will Alex get his life back, or will his evil twin take over for good?

They’re troubling. They’re bizarre. And they JUST might be true. They’re Weird Stories Gone Wrong. Here are six spectacularly spooky books from acclaimed children’s author Philippa Dowding that will have you wondering about tall tales, giant flies, and mysterious monsters in the dark. Jake and the Giant Hand—Book #1 Jake doesn’t really believe a giant’s hand was found in a field near his grandfather’s farm, but when Jake begins noticing giant flies buzzing around and Grandpa says the basement is off-limits, he doesn’t know what to believe. Myles and the Monster Outside—Book #2 2016/2017 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award — Shortlisted A series of creepy events follow Myles and his family one rainy night as they move across the country. But the scariest thing has to be the misty, red-eyed figure that won’t leave them alone. Carter and the Curious Maze—Book #3 Carter discovers a creepy maze at the fair and travels farther and farther back in time. How will he ever get back to the present? Alex and The Other—Book #4 Alex is a lonely boy, not exactly bullied but not popular either. Then a girl — named Alex! — arrives who looks just like him. She is popular, and better than him at everything. Soon, she’s even better than he is at being him. Will Alex get his life back, or will his evil twin take over for good? Blackwells and the Briny Deep—Book #5 After seeing a phantom ship, the Blackwell kids run aground on a mysterious island with warring mermaids, zombie pirates, and a strange dolphin-boy named Finn. Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet—Book #6 On Quinn’s third day at the Work Centre he sees a girl run away. After he’s questioned about her escape, suddenly a renegade Officer and Work Bot want Quinn to help the oldest children find sanctuary in the Quiet, Quiet. But why are the children turning blue? How can Quinn help them? And more than that: what’s the Quiet, Quiet anyway?

On Quinn’s third day at the Work Centre he sees a girl run away. After he’s questioned about her escape, suddenly a renegade Officer and Work Bot want Quinn to help the oldest children find sanctuary in the Quiet, Quiet. But why are the children turning blue? How can Quinn help them? And more than that: what’s the Quiet, Quiet anyway?

"I'm Mann, just Mann." The world is slowly recovering after environmental collapse, and the children of the automated, domed city of Oculum have begun to awaken. Miranda, William and the 998 other children wake to tend the fruit trees and gardens behind the thick, opaque walls of their world. Some speak quietly of Outside, which is forbidden. Until William finds a door ... The children outside the dome of Oculum — Mann, Cranker and others raised by Grannie — live amongst the rubble of the old destroyed city. They live with hunger, hard work, and stories about a time before the fall, of buggies without horses, light without fire ... and magical fruit called "peaches." But it must be lies, until one day Mann and Cranker get close enough to the ancient dome to find ... a door....